Taskmaster
Taskmaster was an international criminal and a master of various forms of martial arts, combat techniques, and strategy. Despite his status worldwide as a wanted man, he did little to keep himself incognito, preferring to showcase his abilities rather than hide. His life before his reputation, and how he came about to be the Taskmaster, remained unknown. History Taskmaster first donned the skull mask of his predecessor approximately 14 ACI and, using archived footage of various heroes and villains, was able to successfully pull off his first heist. The first known act of crime the man pulled was a simple bank robbery, but the payoff exceeded $3 million. From there, Taskmaster's reputation grew, and using these illegally-acquired funds, he was successfully able to build his own independent operation. Several years later, Taskmaster was deeply involved in a worldwide plot to start a third world war. However, these plans were thwarted by the teaming of the mutants Wolverine and Ronin, to which he managed to elude his two adversaries and disappear. His actions and whereabouts since have been unknown. Powers The Taskmaster's only superhuman abilities are that of his photographic reflexes. He is able to duplicate almost any physical act he sees after seeing it done by someone else only once. Due to these reflexes, he can do things which border on superpowers. For instance Taskmaster has discovered that after watching martial arts movies on fast-forward he is able to briefly duplicate the moves at a greatly increased velocity, effectively giving him a limited form of super-speed. However, as he does not have any sort of enhanced endurance, this puts a great strain on his body and he is only able to fight in this manner for short periods of time. He can also copy the subtle muscle movements of others so precisely that he can at times do things such as copying another persons voice so precisely as to fool voice recognition software. He can also do things such as figuring out the sleight of hand techniques of a master poker cheater simply by watching them. He can even duplicate the nearly superhuman abilities with thrown projectiles which Bullseye exhibits, or approximate the agility of someone like Spider-Man, at least up to a point that doesn't require superhuman effort. He is also capable of using this ability to master complex gymnastics routines and play difficult pieces of music. However, he typically prefers to use this ability to copy the combat skills, both armed and unarmed, of costumed crime-fighters and expert martial artists from around the world, typically seen through watching videos of them in combat situations. He has often shown the ability to actually predict an opponents next move before they make it if he has studied their fighting style enough. Opponents who are skilled at improvisational fighting styles, or who have a more random unpredictable style are less likely to have their moves predicted by Taskmaster. Abilities The Taskmaster is a master strategist and tactician, having demonstrated being able to pull off multi-tiered plots and heists where others may fail. He is an Olympic-level athlete and is possibly among the most formidable armed and unarmed combatants in the universe. Beside his photographic reflexes, he possesses photographic muscle memory that allows him to instinctively, instantly, and completely learn and acquire new skills and abilities. While not having any superhuman physical, mental, or energy manipulative abilities, the Taskmaster is able to routinely battle super-human powered foes with an impressive degree of success. Taskmaster learned meditation techniques in Tibet, he also claims to have learned forensic methods from CIA Agents and Mossaid Operatives. Weaknesses The Taskmaster is not capable of duplicating a physical feat if the effort to do so requires superhuman effort. For instance, while he could view an opponent lifting a car, he could not do so because his body can't duplicate the superhuman strength required to do so. He also cannot duplicate any energy manipulating or projecting capabilities for the same reasons. His abilities are also limited in that they do not grant him an innate understanding of underlying disciplines. When Taskmaster copies something new, it pushes old memories out of his brain in a form of amnesia. Paraphernalia Taskmaster often keeps DVDs and tapes of individuals he wishes to mimic. Taskmaster used a number of weapons, often determined by the abilities he was using. He has been known to use a variety of firearms with the level of an expert marksman, has proven capable of using a bow and arrow, and demonstrated proficiency in melee combat with a sword and shield. Notes Taskmaster is free to be roleplayed by anyone as needed, so long as the "Golden Rule" is adhered to, and this article is updated as appropriate. Category:CaddenCategory:Cadden (WH)Category:Wolverine Villains